Move from detached to a semi?

Throw the cat in amongst the pigeons and say that not everyone from every social class sees things the same way. One could live in an estate where there's wonderful camaraderie amongst the neighbours, everyone throws in their time , etc, to make sure everything looks and functions well. Then there's an estate where a lot of people do their best, but the few ruin it for everyone else but always want the same benefits without helping out or donating to the upkeep. I can well imagine living next door to neighbours like that changing the way I'd think about semi-d's. I also know of plenty who have similar problems with living in detached houses and uncaring neighbours beside them. Either way it would dim the view of people, especially if the sound-proofing and carelessness of a neighbour became an issue.
 
noproblem said:
Throw the cat in amongst the pigeons and say that not everyone from every social class sees things the same way. One could live in an estate where there's wonderful camaraderie amongst the neighbours, everyone throws in their time , etc, to make sure everything looks and functions well. Then there's an estate where a lot of people do their best, but the few ruin it for everyone else but always want the same benefits without helping out or donating to the upkeep. I can well imagine living next door to neighbours like that changing the way I'd think about semi-d's. I also know of plenty who have similar problems with living in detached houses and uncaring neighbours beside them. Either way it would dim the view of people, especially if the sound-proofing and carelessness of a neighbour became an issue.
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It's not about social class or maintenance of common areas, it's about peaceful enjoyment of your own home and not hearing the day to day lives of your neighbours.

I can't imagine another lockdown in a noisy home!
 
I live in a detached house. My neighbour has the car with the seven door slams.....every morning.....outside my bedroom window. The car doors banging at least 7 times before one of them sets off to work. Then they let their wheelie bin lid slaps against the side of their bin when putting rubbish in it. Again and again. This all happens around 7 a.m.
Their garage door, despite having a handle to gently close it, is slammed shut. They would never dream of trimming the tops of their hedges or pick up the dandelions growing in their driveway.

They are totally unaware people....

So even though we don't have loud music, late night parties etc. Small things can irritate no matter why type of house you live in.
 
One of the nicest terraced houses I lived in was an Edwardian 3 story in Clontarf. One of our neighbours had a party and all the beer cans were lobbed into our garden. The party went on until the wee hours. Class is irrelevant. It depends on the people, and some fairly wealthy people can be as bad as anyone else. I've a friend in a new development (last twenty years) and you can hear the neighbours telly, toilet, washing machine etc. I now live in a house built in the 50's and it has thick walls, so little sound.
 
Have lived in several detached houses, apartments, semi-ds, and now live in newly-built mid terrace. Current house is as quiet as detached house was growing up. Neighbours on both sides have had parties and we didn't hear a peep. It really depends on the quality of construction.
 
arbitron said:
Have lived in several detached houses, apartments, semi-ds, and now live in newly-built mid terrace. Current house is as quiet as detached house was growing up. Neighbours on both sides have had parties and we didn't hear a peep. It really depends on the quality of construction.
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I'd imagine all the insulation to achieve an A rating has improved soundproofing by default.

The house I'm considering is Celtic Tiger era (2006).
 
Kimmagegirl said:
I live in a detached house. My neighbour has the car with the seven door slams.....every morning.....outside my bedroom window. The car doors banging at least 7 times before one of them sets off to work. Then they let their wheelie bin lid slaps against the side of their bin when putting rubbish in it. Again and again. This all happens around 7 a.m.
Their garage door, despite having a handle to gently close it, is slammed shut. They would never dream of trimming the tops of their hedges or pick up the dandelions growing in their driveway.

They are totally unaware people....

So even though we don't have loud music, late night parties etc. Small things can irritate no matter why type of house you live in.
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Have you thought about what living in a semi-d beside these people would be like for you?
 
Sue Ellen said:
Needs must. Move to the other bedroom presumably at the back of the house. I certainly would if it annoyed me that much each morning at 7 a.m.
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Totally disagree.

Isn't that the problem nowadays. Turn the other cheek and let the selfish/unaware walk all over you. But what to do?

It can be difficult approaching your neighbour about what they might call "minor" issues in their life. But if you do at least you will make them aware that their early morning rituals are causing problems for others.
 
Moved from a bungalow to a 70s built semi about 10 years ago. To be honest, aside from hearing the odd bit of TV noise from time to time or if he was drilling a hole in the party wall or hanging up a picture, I don't hear anything. Only annoying thing is when his alarm goes off once or twice but we have his number and can call him and vice versa so it means there actually is that little bit extra security all round

I did live in a Celtic Tiger townhouse for a year before I moved to thebungalow though and could hear everything, from the neighbours bad music to his kettle boiling and hjm having fun with a lady friend.

So in essence, it depends on the house. I'd prefer a semi in a good area to a detached in an iffy one
 
Some of those Celtic Tiger semi's are built really really poorly. We bought one in 2008 and thankfully we didn't have neighbours until 2016 (estate got left in the crash) but when we did, we could hear a lot. Neighbours were nice but we could still hear kids crying etc. It wasn't too bad though in that only 1 bedroom was next to each other, so the living part of the house was essentially the far ends. Something to look out for. I grew up in a semi-d also, a 70's built one. After leaving the above house we went detached, something we wanted. Now I'm in a small detached in a small estate. I'd never go back to a semi, but everyone is different and every area is different as the above poster said!
 
I'm in the process of moving from a semi D to a detached!!

The noise has been driving me INSANE for the last number of years. The neighbours are lovely but live loudly! Things that drive me crazy are the shouting, dragging chairs, slamming wardrobe doors, tv blaring, running up and down the stairs and slamming the front door off the hinges every single time they go in/out. I have had sound proofing done in sitting and dining/kitchen (as have they) but I can still hear them :rolleyes:
That said, I live alone (so it's really quiet here) and I'm quite noise sensitive/intolerant lol :D. I cannot wait to move to a detached haha
 
My sister recently moved from a detached (rented) to a semi-d (purchased) and says she can notice a big difference in noise.
 
Grew up in a semi D that was built in the 70's. Never had any bother from the neighbours. But then, they were lovely neighbours.

As us kids got older, both my parents and my next door neighbours wouldn't complain if there was noise made if there was a "free gaff". It wasn't something that happened too much and never got out of hand, so it was always let slide.

I would be more cautious of houses built during the Celtic Tiger given the quality of some of the houses built. There's too many stories of paper thin walls.
 
Moved from Dublin 1980's build semi-d to a detached rural house when we (semi)retired. Our former attached neighbours were lovely and didn't make much noise, but it certainly did travel through the party walls! Things like stairs creaking, doors closing (not slamming) and loos flushing could be heard clearly if our house was quiet. I presume the reverse was true too!

The noise wasn't a big deal, all in all, but that depends entirely on having ok neighbours next door. Now, it's just cows and sheep and the odd tractor rumble - bliss!
 
I used to live in semi-detached and have moved several times (My mother used to ask "where are you living now") - There's a big difference based on design.
Two I lived in had the front door adjacent to the neighbour. So "attached" areas were the stairs, downstairs toilet, bathroom to bathroom and box rooms. So very little noise/disturbance.

One other I lived in had the opposite layout - living room attached to living room, dining area to dining area, master bedroom to master bedroom, bedroom 2 to bedroom 2. And even though i and the neighbour were quiet, you'd still have noise, you'd hear their TV as a background noise, you'd hear noises from their bedroom.

So if buying semi-detached look for ones where the attached parts are the little used parts like stairs and bathrooms.
 
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